Giant Manufacturing reported revenues of NT$19.5 billion (US$618.7 million) in the six months ended June 30, up 25.1% from a year earlier. Net income climbed 14.5% to NT$1.01 billion. Earnings per share (EPS) were NT$3.61, according to multiple press reports.
Still, rising raw material costs and the fall of the U.S. dollar undermined profits at the worlds largest bicycle maker.
Giant exported 910,000 units of bicycles from Taiwan in 2007, and expects to surpass 1 million this year. The company expects to see a 10% increase this year, according to a report in the Taipei Times.
Revenues at Taiwan’s second largest bike maker, Merida Industry Co, reached NT$4.44 billion ($142 mm) in the first half of the year. Net income fell 4.86% to NT$548 million ($17.5 mm) from NT$576 million ($18.4 mm) a year earlier due largely to foreign exchange losses in the first quarter. Earnings per share was NT$2.55, or 3 cents.
The Times quoted a Merida executive as saying the company expects to export between 780,000 and 800,000 bicycles this year, up from 755,000 last year.
The average FOB price of Merida bicycles exported from Taiwan fell to $400 in the first seven months of this year from $410 a year earlier because of the increasing export of medium- to low-priced bicycles in the first half, the newspaper reported.
